U.S. Congressman Warns of Catastrophic Cyber Attack

Republican congressman Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, recently stated that the U.S. is insufficiently prepared for a "catastrophic cyber attack" that's likely to hit the country within the next year or two.

"'We are today involved in a cyber war,' Rogers said in remarks at a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace event marking the launch of The Hill's Global Affairs blog," writes The Hill's Julian Pecquet. "'Our challenge is … can we prepare ourselves quickly enough?'"

"One solution, the lawmaker said, might be for the government to be given the authority to inform the private sector when it learns of things like malicious source code that could infect companies' networks," writes U.S. News & World Report's John T. Bennett. "When it comes to sharing cyber attack data with the private-sector, companies like defense and intelligence firms that routinely do business with government agencies 'should be fine,' Rogers said. But without a clear policy that includes other key sectors, Rogers said the message for other firms is: 'You're on your own.'"

Still, Fudzilla's Nick Farrell notes, "The comment is not actually based on anything tangible and there is no indication what the U.S. could do even if such an attack really was coming. U.S. officials, politicians and experts have for several years warned that an attack on America's electronic networks could do it significant economic and national security harm by hitting the banking system or allowing foes to steal military and intelligence data."